


Family Secrets

by clgfanfic



Category: War of the Worlds (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-20
Updated: 2013-02-20
Packaged: 2017-11-29 23:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/692649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clgfanfic/pseuds/clgfanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Debi has a new "older sister."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in the zine Green Floating Weirdness #7 under the pen name Laura Grigsby and Gillian Holt.

 

_"Do you have a boyfriend?"_

 

          Being the only woman in an all-male, elite Special Forces unit gave her a special kind of awareness when it came to her surroundings, but Norah Coleman didn't recognize her present predicament until it was too late.

          Rounding the corner of the tack house she nearly trampled Debi, startling the young teen.

          "Oh, sorry," the female non-com said, reaching for the bucket the girl had nearly spilled.

          "That's okay," Debi told her, curiosity and nervousness warring in her voice.

          The two blondes exchanged slightly uncomfortable looks.  "Uh, can I help you?" Norah asked.

          Debi shook her head.  "I was just going to get Solomon ready for my riding lesson," she explained.

          "Oh."  Norah glanced around.  The rest of the Omegans were in the coach house, going over tomorrow's training exercise.  She'd needed a run to clear her head, and had cut across behind the barn on the way back.  Now she was caught in conversation with the girl.  It was not the kind of situation she was comfortable with.  Children, and girls in particular, made her decidedly _un_ comfortable.

          "Sergeant Coleman?" Debi asked hesitantly.

          "Yes?" she replied, the title sounding alien coming from the thirteen-year-old.

          "I was wondering, what's your real name?"

          The sergeant smiled.  "Norah."

          A shy smile crossed Debi's lips.  "I like that."

          "Glad someone does," Coleman muttered under her breath.

          The youthful face brightened.  "Would you like to see Solomon?"

          The question caught the soldier off-guard.  Why would Debi want to show her a horse?  "Sure," Coleman said with a shrug, unable to resist the hopeful expression leveled on her.

          Debi lead the way into the barn, Solomon making the introduction easy, stretching his neck out over the stall door, snuffling the sergeant's pockets, and rubbing his face along her arm.

          "He wants you to scratch under his forelock," Debi explained.

          "I see," Coleman grinned, performing the task with obvious acumen.  She wagged her eyebrows at the teen.  "Friendly, isn't he?"

          The blonde ponytail bobbed.  "Mr. Kensington says he's spoiled, but I don't mind."  Debi climbed up on a small stack of hay bales and sat.  "Sometimes I wish he was a she."

          "Why?" Coleman asked, pushing the roaming nose away from more private areas of her chest.

          A small shrug accompanied the spoken, "I don't know.  I guess I just miss having friends like me."

          "Female, you mean?"

          "Uh-huh.  Don't you?"

          Coleman turned the question over in her mind.  "No, not really."  Walking over, she took a seat on the bales as well.  "I guess that's because I grew up with my father and six brothers."

          "Wow," Debi breathed.  "I grew up with my mom and grandma.  My dad wasn't home very much, then they got divorced.  Was your mom and dad divorced, too?"

          Coleman shook her head.  "No.  My mother died when I was young, three."

          "Oh," Debi said quietly.  "That's sad.  Harrison's mom and dad died when he was five.  Do you miss her a lot?"

          Coleman's eyes flickered away.  "I don't really remember her."

          "Sometimes I can't remember Daddy very well."  Debi stood and hopped off her perch, walking over to the stall.  "I wish I had a brother, or a sister.  Then I'd have someone to talk to and play with."

          Norah's soft chuckle caused Debi to turn.  "I was the youngest.  My brothers thought it was the worst thing in the world, having a baby sister around."

          "Did they tease you a lot?"

          "Oh, yeah," she said with a laugh.  "But I guess it helped me in the long run.  I grew up a tomboy, which was good.  My father was in the Army and we moved around a lot, from base to base.  It made me independent.  But I can see what you mean.  When I got older, my brothers and I were very close, since it was hard for us to make friends."

          "I know," Debi agreed.  "My mom and me moved a lot, too – Ohio, New York, Maryland, Los Angeles, and now here.  I hate making new friends."

          Coleman stepped aside as Debi slipped a halter over Solomon's head and led him out, tying his rope to an old iron ring.

          "Guess this isn't so great then, living out here alone."

          "It's okay.  School's the worst.  I don't get to go to other people's houses, and I can't bring them here…  That makes it hard to make friends, they want to hang around, you know?  They think I'm weird.  But I like it here."

          "Why?" Coleman asked, wondering as she did why it mattered to her that Debi really didn't mind being stuck on the property.

          "Everyone's nice, and they treat me like I'm older – most of the time.  Norton plays computer games with me, and Harrison helps me with my homework, and Mrs. Pennyworth lets me make cookies whenever I want to.  Mr. Kensington even plays catch with me and teaches me English riding.  And Colonel Ironhorse is the best."

          "Oh?" the non-com questioned, hoping she'd get a better insight into her commander.

          Debi fished out a curry comb and set to work on the gelding.  "Yeah.  He tells me stories, and lets me read all the books he has on Indians, and teaches me how to ride bareback, and he even showed me how to use the gym in the basement."

          "I see," Coleman said, grinning at the newfound knowledge.  He wasn't the tough-as-nails commander he tried to be, after all.  "That's pretty impressive.  My dad was like that.  He always encouraged me to try anything I wanted to try."

          "I'm glad you're here, too."

          Coleman's eyebrows climbed.  "Me?"

          She nodded.  "It's nice having more women."

          Norah grinned.  "What about the guys?"

          Debi's cheeks brightened.  "That's okay, too."

          "Yeah," she agreed.  "They're okay… most of the time."

          "Corporal Goodson showed me how to fly Harrison's kite," Debi told her.  "He's nice.  And Corporal Matthews and Corporal Peterson took me sailing.  I guess that's brothers…  Do you get to see your brothers?"

          "Not very often.  They're in the Army, too, so we're scattered all over."

          "Is your dad still in the Army?"

          "Yes, but he'll be retiring soon.  He works at the Pentagon."

          Debi's face brightened.  "Does he know my Uncle Hank?"

          "Who?" Coleman asked.

          "General Henry Wilson."

          Coleman blinked, then swallowed.  "He might.  I didn't know General Wilson was your uncle."

          Debi nodded, starting to work on combing out Solomon's mane.  "My mom's dad was his half brother."

          There was a pause as Coleman worked out the connections.  "Your mother is General Wilson's niece?"

          "Yeah, his favorite niece.  My grandfather was in the military, too, but he was in the Navy," Debi told her, switching the comb for a brush.  "Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked as a nonsequiter.

          That caught the soldier off guard.  "Uh, no."

          "Sometimes I wish I had one."

          "Why?" Norah asked, wondering if Debi would reveal her crush on Stravrakos.

          "I don't know, I guess because then I'd have a best friend."

          Coleman stood and walked over to stand on the other side of Solomon.  "I can tell you, my best friends have _never_ been my boyfriends."

          Debi peeked up over the gelding back.  "Really?  Why?"

          Norah reached down and picked out another brush and started brushing down the other side of the horse's back.

          "I don't know.  I guess because I was always worried about what my boyfriends would think about me.  I was afraid to tell them the stuff I told my best friend.  I knew my best friend would understand anything."

          Debi was quiet for a while, thinking about the comment.  "Was your best friend a girl or a boy?"

          "Well," Norah said, "I've had both.  And my brothers have been some of my best friends, too."

          Debi chewed her lower lip.  "Someone else told me it was better to be friends, but I think it's because he thinks I'm a kid."

          Norah's eyebrows climbed.  Alex hadn't said anything about talking to Debi.  "Well, I guess it might, but, you know, the best boyfriends I've had all started out as friends.  That way I knew they really liked me for who I was inside and out."

          Debi nodded.  "Does Sergeant Stravrakos have a girlfriend?" she asked, abandoning the grooming.

          "No, not that I know of."

          Debi ran her hand along Solomon's neck and he tossed his head.  "I think he's cute," she admitted, looking embarrassed.

          "Well," Norah said, her voice dropping to a whisper, "don't tell him I said so, but I agree."

          "Do _you_ like him?" Debi questioned.

          "As a friend, _not_ a boyfriend."  She walked around to stand closer to the girl.  "You know, he's got a secret admirer… could that be you?"

          Debi nodded reluctantly, her cheeks going bright red.  "I guess that's pretty stupid, huh?"

          "No, I don't think so," Coleman said, squatting down so she could meet Debi's gaze.  "He's very flattered, but I think he's afraid you want him to be a boyfriend, instead of a good friend."

          Debi shrugged.  "I guess a good friend would be better."

          Coleman stood, and rested a hand on the girl's shoulder.  "I think so.  Otherwise you might make the rest of them jealous of Alex."

          Debi smiled.  "I don't think so."

          "Well, I do," Norah insisted.  "And, since you and I are friends now, I'm inviting you to play volleyball with us tomorrow afternoon."

          The blue eyes lit up with excited anticipation.  "Really?"

          "Absolutely.  You, me, and Alex will beat the shorts off the rest of them."

          Debi nodded.

          "I better get going, or they're going to come looking for me," Coleman explained, walking for the exit.

          "Sergeant Coleman?" Debi called after her.

          "Norah," the soldier corrected.

          "Norah… thank you.  I think I'm going to like having you for a friend."

          "I'm glad," she said before ducking out and jogging back to the coach house.  Entering, she smiled at the five pairs of eyes that came to rest on her.

          "What took you so long?" Derriman asked.

          "I just stopped to have a chat with Miss McCullough," she said nonchalantly, her gaze coming to rest on Stravrakos.  "And you, Alex, are going to owe me, _big_."

          "Oh?" he asked warily.

          Norah nodded.  "And you can start paying me back tomorrow.  Debi'll be playing volleyball with you and me."  She smiled at the others.  "And we're gonna beat your pants off."

          "I don't think the Colonel would like that," Goodson called after her as Norah headed for a shower.  "At least not in front of the kid!"


End file.
